'Oh, Rohit is out, now Mumbai will lose' - Comment regarding 'Hitman's dismissal leads to IPL fan's death

Last month, a shocking event transpired as Bandopant Tibile, who was a farmer from Hanmantwadi, a village of a thousand people on the outskirts of Kolhapur, lost his life after engaging in banter with his neighbour, Balwant Jhanjge while watching an IPL 2024 (Indian Premier League) match.

Tibile, 65, passed away on March 30, a couple of days after suffering multiple injuries during a fight with the 70-year-old Jhanjge and his nephew. To watch the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) versus Mumbai Indians (MI) fixture in the ongoing IPL 2024 season. Notably on March 27, Tibile and Jhangje visited a friend's house across the street and they were joined by half a dozen other cricket enthusiasts. They had watched matches over there before as well. They saw Hyderabad posting a record 277/3 in their 20 overs on a small television set.

Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma played a brisk knock of 26 off 12 balls before getting out. After the fall of Rohit's wicket, Tibile teased Jhanjge by saying, "Oh, Rohit is out, now Mumbai will lose." However, this didn't sit well with the die-hard MI fan in Jhanjge and things went out of control following this.

Also Read: IPL 2024: CSK fan, 63, beaten to death for cheering on Rohit Sharma's wicket

“It’s a modest village with people who are farmers with modest lands and meagre earnings. We are far away from the hustle of big cities. It’s an uncomplicated, peaceful life,” Sangram Bhapkar, the sarpanch, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

“After the wicket, Tibile turned to Jhanjge and said, “Oh, Rohit is out, now Mumbai will lose! “That triggered Jhanjge and the duo got involved in a heated argument,” recalls sarpanch Bhapkar.

The banter soon turned into a brawl as Tibile was attacked with sticks. Some local residents tried to calm things down but Jhanjge's nephew got hold of a stick and landed a blow on the back of Tibile's head. The latter collapsed on the door of his house and was immediately rushed to the hospital. However, a couple of days later, he was declared dead.

“There was no other angle to their fight. No prior enmity, no fuss over anything else. Cricket is the reason for what happened. But the incident was just an accident,” sarpanch Bhapkar further added.

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Two aged people got involved in a fight led to tragic incident over a cricket match: Inspector Shinde

Since then, Jhanjge and his nephew have been booked under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Fans have reacted to this shocking incident and stressed the importance of treating cricket as a form of entertainment and not a matter of life and death.

“We aren’t talking about youngsters. It’s two aged people who got involved in a fight that led to this tragic incident over a cricket match,” Inspector Kishor Shinde of Karveer police station said.

“How much should one be obsessed about a particular thing? There has to be a limit. You can’t develop enmity towards others because of it. People get depressed too if their team loses, as if someone has died. How can it be addressed? Should the BCCI be responsible for educating the fans? Or the government?” Shinde added.